The Street

Bub is a typical 9-year old kid: boundless energy, curiosity, and though relatively independent, he’s still very much in need of his mother’s protective love. He’s a resourceful child, having to survive neighborhood ruffians and an indifferent street and spend his afternoons and many evenings alone. He’s also very caring, as evidenced by his attempts to earn money for the family after overhearing Lutie’s complaints about living in poverty. It is this care for his family that ultimately leads to Bub’s arrest for stealing mail, after Jones convinces him they are working for the police. He’s too young to have developed Lutie’s distrust of people, especially of the super, Jones. Because Jones gives Bub attention, Bub implicitly trusts the man, which leads to his downfall.

Jones is the superintendent of Lutie’s building. He’s spent too much time in basements and rundown buildings, and has no sense of how to talk to others. He’s lived a lonely existence, and his awareness of how he does not fit into society makes him all the more miserable. Jones is fearful of those more powerful than him, such as Junto and Mrs. Hedges, and vindictive towards those he feels more powerful than, such as Min. The awareness of his own relative insignificance has made him angry at the world.

He desires young women, who essentially want nothing to do with him, adding to his anger and disconnection from the world. In Lutie, he’s found a woman upon whom to pin all his desires, and all his frustrations. He wants her so badly he can barely articulate it. Her repeated rejections inspire him to strike back at the most helpless character in the novel, Bub. 

Mrs. Hedges is Lutie’s neighbor. She runs a brothel out of her apartment. A very large woman, she faced contempt in her Southern hometown before fleeing to New York and its anonymity. Having to survive on the streets made her rely on her own wits and toughness. After surviving a fatal fire, she became badly scarred and now considers herself unfit for a man, even though Junto has made subtle advances. 

She can sense weakness in others, and knows how to exploit them for her own gain. Though she shows flashes of empathy, behind every thought is an angle, as she attempts to figure out a way to profit from any situation. She’s a tough woman, who’s faced the worst life has to offer, and has made herself successful despite it all. 

Junto is a white businessman who owns the bar and casino in Lutie’s neighborhood. He sponsored Boots’ career, and his desire for Lutie inspires Boots and Mrs. Hedges to plot against her. Though he’s white, he does not hold the contempt for blacks that so many other white people did at the time. He sees them not in terms of race, but instead in terms of money.

A bandleader and dashing figure in Harlem, Boots has considerable influence driven in no small part by his money. Though Lutie finds him mysterious, with his “ever-darkening scar” (426), the result of a medical procedure that kept him from getting drafted, she also senses that he is dangerous. Boots is loyal to Junto, to whom he owes his career and his wealth, but also seeks to undermine him in terms of Lutie. Though his money and fame have afforded Boots some distance from society’s racism, he still feels resentment towards the whites who patronized and harassed him when he was a poor street musician and a porter.

Min has lived a hard life of abuse and neglect, living with and then leaving or getting kicked out by a string of bad men. She considers herself lucky to have found Jones, who has asked nothing from her in return. When she senses that Jones is ready to kick her out, her superstitious nature kicks in and she seeks help from a prophet. When the magic of the prophet’s talismans seems to wear off, and Min senses that Jones is about to become violent, her sharp instincts tell her to leave, which she does.

Lutie’s dad is an alcoholic who brews his own liquor and throws wild parties while Lutie is away. He offers little in the way of guidance, instead serving as an example of the perils of addiction and poverty.